If a pronoun question arises in a passage, what should you do?

• A. Look for the noun that immediately follows the pronoun.
• B. Check the pronoun's antecedent in nearby sentences to clarify reference.
• C. Replace the pronoun with the verb it stands for.
• D. Choose the most recent noun in the paragraph.

Answer: (B)

When a pronoun appears, you clarify what it is referring to by finding its antecedent—the noun or noun phrase that the pronoun replaces—in the surrounding text. The best way to do this is to look at nearby sentences and identify the noun that matches in number and gender and fits the meaning of what the pronoun describes. This helps you resolve who or what the pronoun stands for and keeps the reading unambiguous.

Scanning nearby sentences for the antecedent is more reliable than looking for a noun immediately after the pronoun, because pronouns usually point back to something already mentioned, not something that follows. Replacing the pronoun with the verb it stands for isn’t correct, since pronouns replace nouns, not verbs. Simply choosing the most recent noun in the paragraph can mislead you if that noun doesn’t match the pronoun’s meaning or antecedent.

So, the correct approach is to identify the antecedent in the surrounding context to clarify the reference.